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Hashem Abedi (April 8th,1997 - ) is the younger brother of Salman Abedi, who was known as the "Manchester Arena Suicide Bomber". On August 19th, 2020, Hashem was found guilty on 22 charges of murder, on the grounds that he had helped his brother to source the materials used in the bombing.
Biography edit
In 2011, Hashem and his father joined the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group in Libya to overthrow Muammar Gaddafi. Abedi's parents stayed in Libya, while Abedi went back to the U.K. Abedi returned to Libya with his brother Salman Abedi in 2014, and was injured while fighting for an Islamist group. The two brothers were rescued by the British Navy, taken to Malta and flown back to the U.K.
Hashem returned to Libya before the bombing, but was suspected to have assisted his brother to plan the attack and prepare materials needed for the suicide bomb.
On July 17th, 2019; Hashem was charged with murder, attempted murder, and had been arrested in Libya and extradited to the UK.
Trial edit
On August 19th, 2020, Hashem was found guilty of 22 charges of murder, several more of attempted murder and plotting to cause an explosion to endanger life. Prosecutors considered Hashem to be "just as guilty" as his brother.
Hashem initially told police he wanted to cooperate with them in order to prove his innocence, but he later sacked his legal team and waived his right to attend most of the court case, choosing to stay in his prison cell instead.
Hashem was sentenced to a life sentence with a minimum term of 55 years.
On February 22nd, 2022, Hashem and two other prisoners have been found guilty of attacking a prison officer in Belmarsh's high security unit. He was sentenced to another three years and 10 months consecutive to his current sentence.